Roadblock Set Up In Search For Killer

August 18, 1993|By Will Hacker.

Joliet — Hoping for a lead in the investigation of the murder of an 18-year-old woman found dead more than a week ago in a Joliet church, police set up a roadblock Tuesday, stopping more than 100 pedestrians and drivers.

Police still are without a suspect in 18-year-old Danielle McTee's brutal murder, officials said.

Sgt. Fred Haffner, of the investigations division, declined to comment on the results of the traffic stops near St. Edward the Martyr Episcopal Church or on interviews with residents that police have conducted within the last week.

"Even though this happened in broad daylight at a busy intersection, we don't have many clues. Hopefully we can find someone who might have seen something," said Sgt. Fred Haffner, of the police department's investigations division.

Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil said his office is waiting for test results that may determine whether McTee, a Minnoka resident, was sexually assaulted before her death. It could take up to several weeks for the results to come in, O'Neil said.

Bruises found on McTee's body indicate that there was some type of struggle before she was shot.

Classmates of McTee's from the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora, along with family members, former teachers, co-workers from the First National Bank of Joliet's Midland Avenue branch and area residents, gathered at the church Sunday for a memorial service.

McTee graduated from the Aurora school in June and was to begin studies as an English major at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., next month.

"We knew the family had no church and that the whole community needed a way to express itself and grieve," said Edward Howell, pastor of St. Edward. "We needed to say prayers to restore that which has been profaned and return this church to the business of life."

Following the service, holy water was sprinkled at the bottom of the stairwell where McTee's body was found. Long-stemmed roses and other flowers were left in McTee's memory, and as a tribute to her fondness for botany, in the stairwell, on a small bench near the stairwell and under a tree where the girl frequently was seen reading poetry while eating lunch. Howell said her former classmates plan to plant perennial flowers around the church this fall.